Chapter 6.2 Outline
I. Creation of an Arab Empire
A. Muhammad was accepted as both political and religious leader of the Islamic community, but was never named successor
1. had several daughters, but had left no son
B. Abu Bakr- a wealthy merchant gand Muhammad's father-in-law
1. was named Caliph, or successor of Muhammad
C. Muhammad had overcome military efforts by the early Makkans to defeat his movement
D. The Quran permitted fair, defensive warfare as jihad, or "struggle in the way of God"
E. At Yarmuk in 636, the Arab army defeated the Byzantine army in the midst of the dust storm that enabled the Arab to take their ememy by surprise
1. 4 years later, they took control of the Byzantine providence of Syria
2. the courage of them was enhanced by the belief that Muslim warriors were assured a place in Paradise if their soldiers died in battle
F. After Abu Bakr died, problems arose over who should become the next caliph
1. the first two to rule after his death was assassinated
G. Ali, Muhammad's son -in-law, was chosen to be caliph, but he too was assassinted after ruling for five years
H. In the conquered territories, Arab administrators were quite tolerant, sometimes even allowing local officals to continue govern
1. these conquered people were not forced to convert to Islam, but if they chose not to, they were required only to be loyal to Muslim rule and to pay textes
II. The Umayyads
A. In 661, the general Mu''awiyah- the governor of Syria and the one of Ali's cheif rivals, became caliph
1. was known for one outstanding virtue: he used force only when absolutely necessary
2. esblished the Umayyad dynasty
3. moved the capital of the Arab Empire from Madinah to Damascus, in Syria
B. At the beginning of the eighth Century, Arad armies conquered and converted the Berbers,, a pastoral people living along the Mediterrean coast of northern Africa
C. By 725, most of spain had been a Muslim state with its center at Cordoba
D. In 732, Arab forces were defeated at the Battle of Tourss in Gaul (now France), which ended their expansion in Europe.
E. In 717, another Muslim force launched an attack on Cinstantinople with the hope of defeating the Byzantine Empir, but survived by destroying the Muslim fleet
1. created an uneasy frontier in Southern Asia Minor between the Byzantine Empire and the islamic world
F. During the Umayyad dynasty, Muslims who were not Arabs, such as Persians and Byzantines, felt that they were treated unfairly, which led to a revolt by Hussein,
second son- in- law of Ali
1. but the revolt was crashed, which split Islam into two groups, the Shite Muslims which only accept descendants of Ali as the truevcaliphs, and the Sunni Muslims, which accept only the descendants of the Umayyads as Caliphs
III. The Abbasid dynasty
A.Resentment against Umayyad rule grew
B. In 750, Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and set up the Abbasid Dynasty, which lasted until 1258
C. In 762, The Abbaside built a new capital city at Baghdad
D. The best known caliphs of the nineth century was Harun al-Rashid, who was best known for his charity, and whose reign is often described as the Golden age of the Abbasid caliphate
1. he and his son, al-Ma'mum, supported artists and writers, that was a period of great prosperity
E. Baghdad became the center of huge trade empire that included Asia, Africa, and Europe, greatly adding to the riches of the Islamic world
F. A bureaucracy helped the Caliph rule the empire, which was headed by a prime minster, called a Vizier, advised by the caliph, who sat behind a screen
whispering orders to the vizier while meetings were going on
G. When Harun al-Rashid died, his two sons fought over who was going to succeed him by trying to become the next Caliph, by basically destroying the city of Baghdad
1. The process of disintegration was helped along by the shortage of qualified Arabs for key positions in the army and the civil service
a. as a result, Caliphs began to recruit officals from among the non-Arab peoples within the empire, such as Persians and Turks- people who were trained
to serve the caliphs, but gradually they also became a dominate force in the army and the bureacracy
2. eventually rulers, of the provinces of the Abbasid Empire began to break away and form their own independent dynasties
a. Spain, Morocco, and and new dynasty that was esblished in Egypt by the Fatimids, with its capital at Cairo, in 973
IV. The Seljuk Turks
A. The Fatimid dynasty in Egypt soon became the dynamic center of Islamic civilization
B. The fatimids created a strong army by hiring non-native soldiers to fight for them known as the Seljuk Turks, were a nomadic people from central Asia,
that converted to Islam and prospered as soldiers for the Abbasid Caliphate
C. As the Abbasids grew weaker, Seljuk Turks grew stronger, moving gradually into Iran and Armenia
D. In 1055, a Turkish leader capyured Baghdad and took command of the empire
1. his title was Sultan- "holder of power"
E. the Abbasid Caliph was still the chief religious autority,but, after they captured Baghdad, the Seljuk Turks held the real military and political power of the state
V. The Crusades
A. The Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the Christain states of Europe for help against the Turks because the Christain states and the
Islamic world feared and disliked each other, many Europeans agreed beginning a series of crusades in 1096
B. In 1169, Saladin, a new Muslim ruler, took control over Egypt and made himself Sultan, ending the Fatimid Dynasty
1. also established control over Syria and took the offensive against the Christian states in the areas
C. In 1187, Saladin's army invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem and destroyed the Christian forces there
D. The Crusades had little lasting impact on Southwest Asia, except to breed centuries of mistrust between Muslims and Christian
VI. The Mongols
A. The Mongols were a postoral people who swept out of the Gobi in the early thriteenth century to seize control over much of the Known world
1. burned cities to the ground, destroyed dams, and reduced farming villages to the point of mass starvation
a. goal was to create such terror that people would not fight back
B. Beginning with the advances led by Genghis Khan in North China, Mongol armies spread across central Asia
C. In 1258, under the leadship of Hulegu ( brother of Kubai khan), the mongols seized Persia and Mesopotamia that brought an end to the Abbasid Caliphate
D. Hulegu decided to burn schools, libraries, palacres and Mosques (muslims houses of worship) to the ground becuase he hated Islam
E. The Mongols advanced as far as the Red sea, but was unable to conquer Egypt
F.The Mamluks were Turkish slave-soldiers who had over-thrown the administration set up by Saladin and seized power for themselves
G. Over time, The Mongols rulers converted to Islam and began to intermarry with local peoples, who began rebuilding cities
H. By the 14th Century, The Mongol Empire split into seperate kingdoms
I. The old Islamic Empire established by the Arabs in the 7th and 8th centuries had came to an end
J. As a result of the Mongol destruction of Baghdad, the new center of Islamic civilization becam Cairo, in Egypt
I. Creation of an Arab Empire
A. Muhammad was accepted as both political and religious leader of the Islamic community, but was never named successor
1. had several daughters, but had left no son
B. Abu Bakr- a wealthy merchant gand Muhammad's father-in-law
1. was named Caliph, or successor of Muhammad
C. Muhammad had overcome military efforts by the early Makkans to defeat his movement
D. The Quran permitted fair, defensive warfare as jihad, or "struggle in the way of God"
E. At Yarmuk in 636, the Arab army defeated the Byzantine army in the midst of the dust storm that enabled the Arab to take their ememy by surprise
1. 4 years later, they took control of the Byzantine providence of Syria
2. the courage of them was enhanced by the belief that Muslim warriors were assured a place in Paradise if their soldiers died in battle
F. After Abu Bakr died, problems arose over who should become the next caliph
1. the first two to rule after his death was assassinated
G. Ali, Muhammad's son -in-law, was chosen to be caliph, but he too was assassinted after ruling for five years
H. In the conquered territories, Arab administrators were quite tolerant, sometimes even allowing local officals to continue govern
1. these conquered people were not forced to convert to Islam, but if they chose not to, they were required only to be loyal to Muslim rule and to pay textes
II. The Umayyads
A. In 661, the general Mu''awiyah- the governor of Syria and the one of Ali's cheif rivals, became caliph
1. was known for one outstanding virtue: he used force only when absolutely necessary
2. esblished the Umayyad dynasty
3. moved the capital of the Arab Empire from Madinah to Damascus, in Syria
B. At the beginning of the eighth Century, Arad armies conquered and converted the Berbers,, a pastoral people living along the Mediterrean coast of northern Africa
C. By 725, most of spain had been a Muslim state with its center at Cordoba
D. In 732, Arab forces were defeated at the Battle of Tourss in Gaul (now France), which ended their expansion in Europe.
E. In 717, another Muslim force launched an attack on Cinstantinople with the hope of defeating the Byzantine Empir, but survived by destroying the Muslim fleet
1. created an uneasy frontier in Southern Asia Minor between the Byzantine Empire and the islamic world
F. During the Umayyad dynasty, Muslims who were not Arabs, such as Persians and Byzantines, felt that they were treated unfairly, which led to a revolt by Hussein,
second son- in- law of Ali
1. but the revolt was crashed, which split Islam into two groups, the Shite Muslims which only accept descendants of Ali as the truevcaliphs, and the Sunni Muslims, which accept only the descendants of the Umayyads as Caliphs
III. The Abbasid dynasty
A.Resentment against Umayyad rule grew
B. In 750, Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and set up the Abbasid Dynasty, which lasted until 1258
C. In 762, The Abbaside built a new capital city at Baghdad
D. The best known caliphs of the nineth century was Harun al-Rashid, who was best known for his charity, and whose reign is often described as the Golden age of the Abbasid caliphate
1. he and his son, al-Ma'mum, supported artists and writers, that was a period of great prosperity
E. Baghdad became the center of huge trade empire that included Asia, Africa, and Europe, greatly adding to the riches of the Islamic world
F. A bureaucracy helped the Caliph rule the empire, which was headed by a prime minster, called a Vizier, advised by the caliph, who sat behind a screen
whispering orders to the vizier while meetings were going on
G. When Harun al-Rashid died, his two sons fought over who was going to succeed him by trying to become the next Caliph, by basically destroying the city of Baghdad
1. The process of disintegration was helped along by the shortage of qualified Arabs for key positions in the army and the civil service
a. as a result, Caliphs began to recruit officals from among the non-Arab peoples within the empire, such as Persians and Turks- people who were trained
to serve the caliphs, but gradually they also became a dominate force in the army and the bureacracy
2. eventually rulers, of the provinces of the Abbasid Empire began to break away and form their own independent dynasties
a. Spain, Morocco, and and new dynasty that was esblished in Egypt by the Fatimids, with its capital at Cairo, in 973
IV. The Seljuk Turks
A. The Fatimid dynasty in Egypt soon became the dynamic center of Islamic civilization
B. The fatimids created a strong army by hiring non-native soldiers to fight for them known as the Seljuk Turks, were a nomadic people from central Asia,
that converted to Islam and prospered as soldiers for the Abbasid Caliphate
C. As the Abbasids grew weaker, Seljuk Turks grew stronger, moving gradually into Iran and Armenia
D. In 1055, a Turkish leader capyured Baghdad and took command of the empire
1. his title was Sultan- "holder of power"
E. the Abbasid Caliph was still the chief religious autority,but, after they captured Baghdad, the Seljuk Turks held the real military and political power of the state
V. The Crusades
A. The Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the Christain states of Europe for help against the Turks because the Christain states and the
Islamic world feared and disliked each other, many Europeans agreed beginning a series of crusades in 1096
B. In 1169, Saladin, a new Muslim ruler, took control over Egypt and made himself Sultan, ending the Fatimid Dynasty
1. also established control over Syria and took the offensive against the Christian states in the areas
C. In 1187, Saladin's army invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem and destroyed the Christian forces there
D. The Crusades had little lasting impact on Southwest Asia, except to breed centuries of mistrust between Muslims and Christian
VI. The Mongols
A. The Mongols were a postoral people who swept out of the Gobi in the early thriteenth century to seize control over much of the Known world
1. burned cities to the ground, destroyed dams, and reduced farming villages to the point of mass starvation
a. goal was to create such terror that people would not fight back
B. Beginning with the advances led by Genghis Khan in North China, Mongol armies spread across central Asia
C. In 1258, under the leadship of Hulegu ( brother of Kubai khan), the mongols seized Persia and Mesopotamia that brought an end to the Abbasid Caliphate
D. Hulegu decided to burn schools, libraries, palacres and Mosques (muslims houses of worship) to the ground becuase he hated Islam
E. The Mongols advanced as far as the Red sea, but was unable to conquer Egypt
F.The Mamluks were Turkish slave-soldiers who had over-thrown the administration set up by Saladin and seized power for themselves
G. Over time, The Mongols rulers converted to Islam and began to intermarry with local peoples, who began rebuilding cities
H. By the 14th Century, The Mongol Empire split into seperate kingdoms
I. The old Islamic Empire established by the Arabs in the 7th and 8th centuries had came to an end
J. As a result of the Mongol destruction of Baghdad, the new center of Islamic civilization becam Cairo, in Egypt